Bird Watching - Bats Go Silent As O's Stumble In The Bronx, Chris Tillman Is Pitching Out Of His Mind, And Another Top Prospect Is Getting Tommy John
Not a good week on the field or in the clubhouse for the Birds. They lost their hold of first place, something they had held since June 5th, and sit a half game behind Boston in the division race. They took 2 of 3 from Tampa, but let’s be real, 9 Barstool bloggers could beat the Rays. Then they went to New York, but it seems they forgot the bats in Tampa, but they did bring the flu.
Rumor has it that All-Stars Matt Wieters and Zach Britton caught some sort of illness in San Diego, and they brought it back to the club. It spread to Chris Davis who missed three games. Manny Machado and Buck Showalter then caught it and missed a game. It had to be bad because it takes a lot to keep Buck from coming to the ballpark. It’s also just so damn hot in New York, so Buck, Manny, and Chris standing out in the heat with bubbleguts is not a good look. Smart to keep them away from the team while they were sick, but this lineup was pitiful without them in New York. Not sure how Ubaldo Jimenez missed this flu bug, would have been nice for him to be out, but what can you do? Couple the sickness with Hyun-Soo Kim going on the DL with a busted hammy, Matt Wieters fouling a ball off his foot an missing some time (bet he goes on the DL), Joey Rickard hurting his thumb, and Adam Jones leaving Wednesday’s loss with back spasms and missing Thursday’s game, it hasn’t been a good second half for the Birds. They are suddenly not healthy, can’t hit with with RISP, and have lost ground to Sox.
Where Did The Bats Go?
It’s been 7 games since the break and no one on the team is hitting. And they aren’t facing the Mets or Nationals rotation, they faced the Rays, some decent arms, and the Yankees who trotted out 3 guys with ERAs over 5, and C.C. Sabathia. In the 7 games since they break, they’ve scored 14 runs. 14 runs!!! We were talking about this team possibly breaking the HR record, and now they’re putting up 2 runs a game. Dating back to the beginning of July, they’ve scored 53 runs in 16 games, about 3.3 runs a game.
I know that this is baseball, it’s impossible for an offense to stay hot for 6 months, each season has it’s peaks and valleys, but it just seems that for the past few seasons with the O’s, everyone slumps at the same time. That is what is going on right now. Just look at these numbers since the break.
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J.J. Hardy is the guy carrying the team right now, but other than that, the O’s aren’t getting much production. They’ve gone a combined 45/229 (.197- 28 of 30 teams), only 5 homers, .245 OBP, and a .297 OBP. Hitting with runners in scoring position was painful to watch. Before Thursday’s win, the Orioles were 3-33 with RISP. Even against bad teams like Tampa and New York, you can’t win with those numbers. Hopefully this weekend series at home will help the bats come alive, it’ll be around 100 everyday so the ball is gonna fly, hope the boys find their stroke again.
Chris Tillman Is An Above Average Pitcher
Now I was having a conversation with a gentleman on Twitter.com this past week about if Chris Tillman is a Top-10 pitcher in MLB. I rattled off about 12 right away that I would take over him at this moment, but that list may be shrinking. Tillman is having a great season, and very quietly. He did not make the All-Star team (rightfully so, he was shaky around the time the teams were announced), and hasn’t been mentioned by anyone when talking about pitchers killing it this season, numbers say it all, folks. When he starts, the O’s are 18-3. When Tillman doesn’t start, an ugly 36-37. He has made 10 starts against A.L. East foes this season, and the Orioles are 10-0 in those games. He is also tied with Chris Sale for most wins, 14, in the league. After a down season last year, Tillman is absolutely cruising. Is he having a better season than Sale? You tell me.
Also, his last 4 games he has been incredibly efficient for the Birds. As you can see, he hasn’t been getting all the run support in the world, but he doesn’t need much. It always looks shaky early going for Tilly, but once he gets over it, maybe gives up a run, he settles down and is in a zone. In a world where the Orioles can’t find anyone to get deep into games, it’s nice that they can pencil in Chris Tillman for 7 every fifth day.
He is the O’s best chance to get to 20 wins, something that hasn’t happened since the mid- 80s, and will for sure pass his career high of 16 wins. Tillman may not be an “ace” by baseball standard, but he’s the Orioles’ ace. This season, Chris Tillman is making $6,225,000, David Price is making $30,000,000, who would you rather have?
Hunter Harvey Needs Tommy John
Hunter Harvey was a top pick for the Orioles. Hunter Harvey is a pitcher. Hunter Harvey was drooled over by scouts. What does that mean? The Orioles get to watch another top pitching prospect undergo surgery, likely putting him out for all of next season. We’ve read this book before.
You could see this coming from a mile away. Since being a top pick in 2013, he has missed half of 2014, all of 2015, and only pitched in 12 innings this season, making only 30 starts since being picked. You knew when he left his start in Aberdeen last weekend with forearm and flexor mass soreness that it wasn’t good. He has been battling a ton of different injuries (sports hernia, fractured leg from line drive) over the last few seasons, and it sucks to see another young O’s arm go down, especially because it looked like he was on the right track and could contribute next season, now we likely won’t see him until 2018. This team doesn’t have much in the farm system, and this depletes them even more. He is only 21, so he has time to rebound, but it will be a tough road.
Dylan Bundy and Matt Wieters also had this same issue, and both were thought to be okay, and would dodge surgery. Both ended up getting Tommy John surgery. The club almost insists on giving these guys 6 weeks of rest, a PRP injection, and a meeting with Dr. James Andrews, it almost never works. As O’s beat writer, Dan Connolly pointed out to me, it worked with Zach Britton. But it looks like 3/4 guys ended up having to go under the knife. Why dick around with them, give them the rest and these PRP injections? Why not cut right to it and give them the surgery, chances are they will need it anyways.
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, July 22 vs Cleveland- Dylan Bundy (2-2 3.70) vs Trevor Bauer (7-3 3.36)
Saturday, July 23 vs Cleveland- Kevin Gausman (1-7 4.05) vs Josh Tomlin (10-2 3.34)
Sunday, July 24 vs Cleveland- Vance Worley (2-1 3.16) vs Corey Kluber (9-8 3.42)
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Monday, July 25 vs Colorado- Yovani Gallardo (3-2 5.69) vs Jorge De La Rosa (6-7 6.07)
Tuesday, July 26 vs Colorado- Chris Tillman (14-2 3.18) vs Chad Bettis (8-6 5.31)
Wednesday, July 27 vs Colorado- Dylan Bundy (2-2 3.70) vs Jon Gray (5-4 4.33)
Thursday, July 28 @ Minnesota- Kevin Gausman (1-7 4.05) vs Kyle Gibson (2-6 5.12)
Tough, but winnable series against Cleveland coming up, if you remember, the O’s took 2 of 3 against them in May. Colorado comes into town and we get to watch two of the best third baseman on the planet in Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado, but the O’s should handle them. And then a one game trip to Minnesota for a makeup game before they head to Toronto.